Great suggestions, keep 'em coming. (But a minor complaint- some of the audio books from this site are read by people whom might kindly be called 'amateurs' as some of the over-dramatic readings are pretty bad. But the price is right.)

Yes. You will not get professional readers for free. That is why other audio books cost so much. You are not only compensating the author, but the reader, sound engineer, etc .

Some of the pronunciations were humorous. A new Zealand reader of John Muir's Mountains of California spoke of the "Joe-a-kwin" River. "Carquinez Straits" was so butchered it took me a few moments to figure it out.